Good morning, wonderful people. It’s been a very eventful few days since we last wrote to you, with a global tech outage, a massive upending of the US presidential race, and tons of investment, debt, and IPO updates here at home. Read on for everything you’ve missed.

We have a mixed bag of news, including Trump Tower coming to Dubai, Masdar’s USD 1 bn green bond issuance, our friends at Mashreq pledging AED 1 bn to industry, and a JV between Mawarid and Plenty to build five indoor farms in the region.

WEATHER- The mercury peaks at 40°C today in Dubai, before hitting an overnight low of 34°C. Things are similar in Abu Dhabi, where temperatures will also hit 40°C before cooling to an overnight low of 33°C.

UAE left (mostly) unscathed by Microsoft outage: The global IT outage taking place on Friday and leaving “blue screens of death” everywhere left some UAE government online services affected, while the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) logged “minor impacts on the operation of the country’s airports and airlines,” with “minor delays … reported in the check-in processes for a limited number of flights,” Khaleej Times reports separately. An alternative system used by the airlines allowed the check-in operations to resume normally, the GCCA said.

Businesses, companies, and residents took the hit: “It was not a cyberattack but businesses and companies were heavily affected. Residents also felt the impact,” Women in Cybersecurity Middle East founding partner Irene Corpuz told Khaleej Times, adding that “the card payment system crashed in some stores and not everyone is carrying cash nowadays.”

ICYMI- A routine software update pushed by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to its Falcon Sensor software threw some 8.5 mn machines running Microsoft Windows into boot loops. Airlines and some other companies were hit particularly hard, with many airports and airlines around the world grounding flights and doing manual paperwork. Some broadcasters were off the air, hospitals canceled procedures, and banking services were offline in many countries, Bloomberg reports. Emergency services were also hit in some countries.

The status now: Things are starting to unsnarl as technicians push out fixes, Reuters notes. Windows users who have been impacted have to reboot their machines and manually delete CrowdStrike’s botched update — a process that requires hands-on access to each device, according to Financial Times. It’s a process that could take days for businesses with large fleets of impacted devices and not enough IT staff, experts told FT.

IPO WATCH-

Amanat plans to proceed with planned IPO of its education unit after receiving the necessary regulatory approvals and engaging potential financial, legal, and commercial advisors, the company said in a DFM disclosure(pdf).

Refresher: Amanat said in May that it plans to carve out its education platform into its own holding company and tap advisors to list it on a GCC stock exchange, without specifying where it would list it or the size or value of the potential stake sale.

REMEMBER- Amanat also reportedly tapped EFG Hermes and First Abu Dhabi Bank for a listing of its healthcare unit as soon as this year that could potentially raise some USD 200 mn.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Fertiglobe to move forward with green ammonia export after final decision on Egyptian plant: UAE-based urea and ammonia exporter Fertiglobe’s agreement to export green ammonia from its Egyptian plant to Europe will hinge on reaching financial investment decision for the Ain Sokhna green ammonia plant, Asharq Business reports, citing a company official. He clarified that the supply contract is non-binding and depends on finalizing the investment agreement with the consortium developing the plant, with a decision anticipated in 1H 2025.

REMEMBER-Fertiglobe secured a EUR 397 mn offtake agreement from the German government’s H2Global program to supply green ammonia to the EU from its Egyptian facilities between 2027 and 2033, which it is developing as part of a consortium comprising Scatec, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, and Orascom Construction.

About the plant: The plant kicked off its first phase in November 2022 and aims to produce some 13k tons of green hydrogen a year, which will be used to create 70k tons of green ammonia at Fertiglobe’s ammonia plants. 270 MW of solar and wind power plants will be installed to power the plant.

DATA POINTS-

#1- DFM achieves longest weekly gain streak in three years: The Dubai Financial Market Index rose 0.28% on Friday, crossing the 4.1k-point mark and marking a 1.9% increase over five sessions — the longest weekly gain streak in three years, Al Bayan reports.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

US President Joe Biden has ended his reelection campaign, releasing a statement on X saying that the decision is “in the best interest of [his] party and the country” and adding that he will “focus solely on fulfilling [his] duties as President for the remainder of [his] term.”

He quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, saying his selection of Harris as his running mate in 2020 was “the best decision [he’s] made.” Harris soon after expressed her “intention to earn and win this nomination” in an X post.

The narrative this morning is that Democrats are closing ranks around Harris as their candidate. She has built-in advantages: Because she’s already on the ticket, she’ll inherit the Biden-Harris campaign’s USD 96 mn war chest. Several of the figures tipped as potential Biden successors have already backed her, including North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Transport Secretary and 2020 presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg, Reuters reports. As of dispatch time, some 117 democrats have rallied behind Harris, according to a WaPo tracker, including Democratic party chairs from all states

But she could still face a challenge at the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for 19 August in Chicago. Some are still calling for an open primary where anyone can throw their hat in the ring.

Unchartered territory: This is the first time since 1968 that a sitting president has not run for re-election and a candidate is selected outside of primaries and caucuses.

What happened? Biden made the decision and pushed his letter out on social media before telling most on his team. He made the move after a long meeting with a very small handful of trusted advisors. Want the inside story? Reuters | Politico | New York Times | Axios have more.

Trump has already spoken out, saying he thinks Harris will be “easier to beat” than Biden.

CLOSER TO HOME- Israel said it shot down a missile launched from Yemen yesterday, in a continuation of escalated violence from the Houthis after Israel’s first public strike against the Yemeni Houthis. The Houthis have so far launched attacks on Tel Aviv and Eilat, and have vowed to resume attacks on Israel.

ALSO HAPPENING OVER THE WEEKEND- The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and that its actions and policies are “tantamount to the crime of apartheid,” the court said in its latest non-binding opinion (pdf)

Little wonder, then that geopolitical tensions are now topping sovereign wealth funds’ and central banks’ concerns for the coming decade, trumping inflation, according to a survey.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

The World Trade Organization will hold a general meeting in Geneva starting today and the Bank of Canada will meet tomorrow to review interest rates. Canada was the first G7 economy to cut interest rates in the current cycle.

Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington tomorrow and the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games take place on Friday.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The World Green Economy Summit is set to take place on 2-3 October at the Dubai World Trade Centre. Organized by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, DEWA, and World Green Economy Organization, the summit will discuss decarbonization, clean energy, climate finance, and the circular economy to support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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